


Take It Slow

by alex4968



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Promise, Security Guard!LIam, Top!Liam, Violence, Zayn just kind of irritates Liam a little, bottom!Zayn, but then all is good, enemies? maybe?, greed - Freeform, im sorry, listen... the plot twist is kind of crazy, this was one of those before you fall asleep ideas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 18:20:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7233532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex4968/pseuds/alex4968
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“First of all, you’re not supposed to be out here. Second of all, do you know how stupid it is to be smoking out here? What if you started a fire?” Mother hen, Harry would say. He could practically hear it already.<br/>“First of all,” The man responded, heavy accent making Liam almost crinkle even if he was being mocked. Fuck. Job. Working. Yeah, that’s what he’d supposed to be doing. “I know I’m not supposed to be out here. I think I counted – what – four no trespassing signs?” There was a bit of a laugh in his voice. Liam wanted to throw his flashlight at him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take It Slow

A flashlight beam cut through the darkness of the building. Dust hung and fell in the brightened area until it slowly fell from focus. The air was cold and bitter, the atmosphere felt off and eerie. It was an average night, perhaps. There was nothing that Liam knew besides this, besides the lonely nights of strolling around whatever property he’d been hired at and chasing off anyone who wasn’t meant to be there.

He’d been doing it since he was sixteen, a gig he’d been picked for simply because he spent a lot of free time at the gym. Maybe it wasn’t something that had been desired – at least not by a teenage kid with the entire world in front of him – but once the income kept coming and the nights became normal, it was desireable.

Even into his twenties. The pay got higher as the years of experience found themselves tacked upon his shoulder. He’d gone through the police academy when he turned twenty one, just for some kind of _validation,_ perhaps. But he still never decided to trail from the path he’d carved out for himself.

Liam’s life certainly wasn’t a life of extravagance.

Rather, it was a bit repetitive. He spent near every night alone, only really getting to see his friends during the day (which, usually, meant he bugged them at work). It was by choice, even if he would complain to near an inch of his life every night. It got less – of course – the complaining. Louis had managed to knock some sense in to him a few years previous, reminding him that he _had_ chosen to keep this job – that he was still young enough to go back to school or find a job as a _real_ cop whenever he wanted.

But that was his problem, really. He didn’t know exactly what he wanted.

Every day from six at night to just past two in the morning, he walked around an empty building – it had been long since abandoned – and just made sure no kids rummaged around and made a mess. There’d been too many kids running around tagging empty walls and burning bonfires in property that wasn’t their own.

There’d only been a few times that he’d ended up having to shoo off a few kids who decided it would be fun to go and “explore” inside of an old building. There were much more interesting things to explore, or at least he thought, but. They’d all just taken the warning he’d given them, let him take their photos, and then left.

Boring wasn’t really the word he’d use. But it wasn’t fun.

So, maybe the repetition of seeing the same building the same night, every night, was what made him make the decision to switch the view – even if just a little bit – and move to a different building. It was a bit further out of his way, about a half hour drive from his flat and twenty minutes further north than his old watch dog job had been, but it looked a lot more fun. If he could say that about a job.

It was an old mine. The mountain closed off about thirty years previous and after a teenager had died after a rock fell on him, they’d been required to hire a watch guard. So, bonus for Liam. Plus, the place was really beautiful. _This_ was the kind of place that he could imagine a teenager breaking in to to explore. It made a bit more sense, considering the way that it was grown over with plants and crumbling to bits and had that air of mystery.

In the end, though, it was just a change of scenery. He’d probably wind up just as bored as he was at the old place here in a few weeks.

He’d spent the night before reading up on a little bit of history of the place. All it took was a single google search before he’d found dozens of newspaper articles and stories and podcasts about the mine and what had happened. The owners had been far too greedy to shut the mines down before they were forced to. Fighting their way through regulations to be able to kept open after the first explosion that had killed eleven, they’d kept the doors open and made almost another hundred thousand dollars.

The next incident had been a rock falling on a man, trapping him for days before the workers returned after the long weekend and found him dead.  It was a lot, and maybe that was why he was so interested with it. There was so much history – very different from patrolling around a place where workers would return the next day and continue doing whatever it was that they did.

“So, it’s probably my mates fucking with me –“ He started with a little laugh, watching as the owner of the property unlocked the door and handed him a set of keys, “But this place is like, haunted? I’ve heard at least.” He pulled his flashlight off of his belt, shining it inside of the completely darkened room behind the door. There were outlines of machines that he could slightly see, beams of moonlight falling inside through fallen and eroded bits of concrete from the ceiling.

“It might be a joke – I’ve never run in to anything … like that. But, you’re the eighth guard I’ve gotten this year.” There was another shrug. “Enjoy your first night, then.” And then the guy was gone and – whatever – Liam didn’t care much for small talk, anyway.

 

+

 

Most of the night, Liam spent walking around. His keys jingled when he walked, and he liked to whistle random tunes under his breath. If anything, it would let someone know there was someone else here and maybe that would get them to leave.

He had his phone set to buzz a few times every hour, just as a way to check the time without having to pull it out and be distracted, but each buzz between the time intervals seemed to grow longer, and longer, and longer.

One of the buzzes actually scared him so much that he managed to fall over and land his arm on a nice, sharp rock.

That was the downside to having to monitor an outside property at night.

But it was very nice on the view end. Especially the way that the moon light would shine through the trees and give off an eerie kind of vibe that he’d always been (secretly) attracted to. He would deny it if anyone else asked.

And well, if he took a few pictures for his Instagram page, he’d deny that, too.

 

+

 

“See anything interesting out there yet, Payno?”

“Nah, not really. I don’t know why the owner said there’s been so many people quit. It’s not scary unless you’re scared of the dark.” He was at Niall’s little pub, drinking down his second pint of the night. He’d had a date who hadn’t shown up, and Niall was understanding. Niall was good at that, talking about things that didn’t matter – that wouldn’t startle a reaction out of him when he really wasn’t in the mood to feel much of anything at all.

It wasn’t too much of a shame, though, really. The guy had been good looking – but he wasn’t looking for much of a relationship. Maybe just someone to get in his bed and to keep him warm for the night. Nothing more, honestly. Or at least he’d claim that and then Niall and Harry would give him quirked eyebrows and disbelieving looks and he’d know that he couldn’t convince anyone else that that was the case, even if he had managed to convince himself.

He didn’t know what he wanted.

Well, besides a third pint. That much he knew he wanted. “Niall – “

“Yeah, I know.”

 

He slept alone that night, the bed oddly colder than he remembered it being but. It is what it is – he’d keep telling himself – and it was with that thought that he managed to force himself to sleep.

 

+

 

After a week, he decided that Niall had just been fucking with him. The place wasn’t haunted. He hadn’t even seen a living body around during his shifts, let alone anything… ghost like. Whatever.

So it was his first shift after his “weekend”. His weekend was his two days off – Tuesdays and Wednesdays – and he was tired. Slightly hung over. But he’d taken a few Tylenol before walking out the door and knew he’d live. It was only an eight hour shift.

But it didn’t help that two hours in, his flashlight kept turning on and off. The battery was going to die.

He’d even written down that he needed to buy an extra set to replace his last extra set of batteries. Fuck.

So he ended up using the flashlight on his phone for the rest of the night, cursing himself when it would get hot enough that it was uncomfortable to hold.

It was a new moon that night, which meant it was much darker than he liked it to be. Too dark to see much of anything – if anything at all – without a light. “Fuck.” He whispered under his breath and kept walking, doing a complete sweep around the outside once before going inside and sitting for a moment, clearing out all of his open apps just to make sure that his phone, even with the goddamned flashlight, would last through the end of his shift.

Before long, though, it was almost the end of his night. He was doing his final sweep around before he saw a little orange light in the distance, eyebrows crinkling as he walked a bit further towards it.

“Hey!” He called out once he noticed that it was the end of a cigarette. It wasn’t a teenager. The man looked practically fully grown, eyes a beautiful light brown under the thick stream of his flashlight. “First of all, you’re not supposed to be out here. Second of all, do you know how _stupid_ it is to be smoking out here? What if you started a fire?” Mother hen, Harry would say. He could practically hear it already.

“First of all,” The man responded, heavy accent making Liam almost crinkle even if he was being mocked. Fuck. Job. Working. Yeah, that’s what he’d supposed to be doing. “I know I’m not supposed to be out here. I think I counted – what – four no trespassing signs?” There was a bit of a laugh in his voice. Liam wanted to throw his flashlight at him. “Second of all, I’m not going to throw it on the ground. I’m not that big of a tosser.”

“Then please do explain why you’re out here, despite the four no trespassing signs?”

“I thought it would be fun.” He snubbed the cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe, tucking the half smoked stick behind his ear with a grin – almost just to prove Liam wrong. “But, I’ll get out of your hair now. Have a good night,” He looked a little closer to Liam’s chest and his eyebrows crinkled again, “ _Officer_ Payne.”

Liam should have stopped him, turned him around and told him he needed to have his photo taken so he could make sure there wasn’t to be a repeat offense. But, God, Liam would remember that face for the rest of his life. So, really, there was no need to drag him further onto the private lot just to get a photo.

 

When he went home that night, he laid in bed and replayed the entire situation over and over in his head. He wasn’t entirely sure if he had handled everything correctly or if he should have handled things differently – but, one thing he was completely certain of was that he wished he could see that mysterious boy again.

Fuck. He was a _criminal –_ even if the crime was just breaking and entering. “Fuck.” He whispered to himself again, scrubbing his face with the palms of his hands and trying to get himself to fall asleep.

It wasn’t for another hour that he was finally able to get his eyes to stay shut, the tiredness _almost_ taking over when his phone started ringing. With a groan, he picked it up and glanced at the name, rolling his eyes when Louis’ name flashed across the screen.

“It’s four in the morning.” He said in place of hello.

“Yes, that it is. But, you sleep until four in the afternoon, so.” He could almost hear the laugh in Lou’s tone and he groaned again.

“Okay, fair enough. What do you want?”

“Well, um.” He blinked, a little more awake suddenly. His friend sounded sad. “I just. Please?”

“Okay. Yeah. I’ll be over soon.” He hung up the phone after that, crawling out of bed and grabbing his phone charger from the wall along with his work uniform for the next day. He’d known Louis way too long to think that he would be getting out of there that night. If he was lucky he’d manage to get back to his own bed the next night.

 

+

 

He’d been right about Lou being sad. That much was confirmed when the door was opened with a teary set of blue eyes. He looked like he’d just stopped the tears a few moments before answering the door, and Liam would be lying if he didn’t feel it pull at his heart strings. He walked inside, waiting until the door was closed before setting his bag on the ground and wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, hugging him tightly. “What’s happened then?” He asked after a moment, just happy that Lou could at least relax a bit into the hug.

“You know that guy I was seeing for a while?”

“Curly?”

“Yeah.” The tears came back again with that little word and Liam was almost angry. But for now he had a friend to take care of. “Well, he um. He said I was too clingy. We got in a fight, I guess. I mean. He didn’t really like – break up with me. But. I dunno. It feels like it.”

“You’re not too clingy Lou. You’re the perfect amount of clingy.” He said in an attempt to be comforting, but it just made his friend cry harder. So he sighed, letting him cry for a while before peeling the boy from his lap. “Tea?”

“Yeah. There’s icecream in the freezer, too. Please.”

“Kay.” That was enough before he was up, walking to the kitchen and getting the water to boil. He did feel bad for Louis. Even if both he and Niall had managed to tell him – at least twice – that curly was bad news. Louis was just too stubborn for his own good; too stubborn to listen to anyone saying that something that was bad for him _was_ bad for him.

But Liam still cherished the moments that he could sit with his friend, eating ice cream and drinking tea until they were both too tired to stay awake and fell asleep curled together on the couch.

 

+

 

The next day at work was rough, to say the least. Louis had fallen asleep _on top_ of him, and they hadn’t managed to fall asleep together until nearly noon. So. He was running on four hours of sleep and a sore body. But. Work was work and a paycheck was due in a few days so he wasn’t really in any place to complain.

It was slowly starting to get darker later in the day, so the first hour or so that he was around the property, it was still well lit. Sunset lasted long enough that it was at least dimly lit for almost two hours. It felt nice.

When he walked inside, he nearly fell on his face when the same boy that had been there the night before was sitting in the middle of the floor, sketching something on a scrap book. His attention was completely on the drawing – so much so that he hadn’t even managed to notice Liam. Liam. The _officer._

It took him a long while to look up, Liam staring – unsure of what to say until, “Oh, hey officer Payne.” And he sounded so _unbothered_ at the fact that there was a _cop_ staring him in the face while he was _trespassing._ Liam was going to scream.

“You do realize that you are _not_ supposed to be here, right?”

“Mhm.” Was the only response, and then he was flipping the cover back on his sketch book, standing and brushing the dust from the tight black pants he was wearing. He’d been wearing the same thing the night before, Liam noticed. “And you realize you’re supposed to be like, patrolling the area or whatever, right?”

“Yes, I do. You’re trespassing.” The boy stuck his bottom lip out in a pout and tucked the book under his arm.

“Aw, come on. No need for such a dirty sounding label.”

“It’s really not dirty – this isn’t your property. You’re not supposed to be here.”

“What are you going to do about it?” The boy asked, a challenge in a way that Liam almost found himself enjoying.

“I’m going to take you back to my car –“

“Ooo, exhibitionism.” Christ. Liam turned red. This boy was going to be the death of him.

“And take pictures –“

“Even better! That’s kinky.”

“Of you so I can show the owner. And if you show up again you’ll be arrested.” The boy pouted again, likely because he didn’t play along with his little game.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“That’s too bad. I cut you a break the first time, kid, and you’re the one who decided to come back.”

“It’s Zayn.” He paused, eyes never leaving his own before, “Bye officer Payne!” The kid – Zayn – said and ran off, up the stairs that – as much as he’d deny it if anyone asked – Liam was too scared to go up. They’d probably break under his weight.

If this kid wanted to play games, he could play games.

 

+

 

The day after had been his day off. So, when he came back, maybe he was a little surprised to see Zayn. Well. Very surprised, actually. The little shit had actually come up behind him – in the middle of the night, mind you – and scared the hell out of him.

“Fuck!” He’d yelled out when the boy had come up and given him a little shove, not enough to even nearly knock him over, but enough to nearly give him a heart attack. Well. That probably would have knocked him over. But. “I swear to god, Zayn. If you’re still here on the count of three, I’m going to take you down to the station myself.”

“The count of three? Why not like, two? Who decided three was the magic –“

“One.” He still hadn’t turned around.

“Uno.” For some reason, Liam was suddenly weighing the idea of how much trouble he’d get in if he just punched this kid.

“Two.” Zayn clicked his tongue and he heard a shuffling, almost like he was crossing his arms.

“Three.” He finally turned around and, of course, Zayn was still standing there. He honestly couldn’t even say he was surprised, really. But the other boy just ended up laughing, arms crossed over his chest like he’d thought they were. “Okay. So. You obviously don’t care that I’m a cop and you could actually face legal trouble for this, do you?”

“Mm,” He said, almost as if weighing his options, “Nope.” Liam just sighed again, running a hand through his hair.

“Alright.” He wasn’t even sure what to say at that point. “Can I at least have an explanation? Are you homeless? Do you live here?” He felt the need to ask, being that it was the third day he’d come across the boy wearing the same clothes. Zayn paused, almost looking pale a moment – and for once, it seemed like he was actually unsure of what to say.

“I live here.” Was all he gave, shrugging as he spoke.

“Alright. Does the owner know?”

  
“Yeah, probably. I mean, several guards have quit because of me.” Liam snorted, almost unable to keep the laugh in at that.

“So you’re the ghost that is terrorizing the guards?”

“Mhm.” Zayn gave a little smile and looked around a moment. “Well – I’ll see ya later –“

“No, no. If you wanna hang out around here while I’m working, you need to at least be with me.”

“Aw, you wanna spend time with me?”

“Not particularly.” Liam said with a little sigh again, only continuing when he saw the sad look on the other boy’s face that actually looked genuine. “I mean, you seem nice, kid. But, you’re still not being lawful really by being here. Hanging out with you while you break the law isn’t really my idea of a fun time.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Zayn ended up spending that entire shift with Liam, somehow managing to get around without tripping or stumbling a single time. In the end, Liam just wondered exactly how long this kid had lived here. Maybe at the beginning he’d been a little angry, but now he was just sad.

 

+

 

“So, get this.” Liam said, sitting at the bar with Louis and Niall in Niall’s living room. They each had some kind of colorful drink that the blonde boy had managed to stir up for them. Liam had never kept himself from having a drink a few hours before he was expected at work.

“What?” Louis asked, taking a little drink from his pink glass.

“You know those rumors about the mine being haunted?”

“Of course.”

“Well, turns out its not haunted at all. It’s just some kid that likes to hang out and terrorize the guards until they quit.” Lou squinted, looking at him hard for a moment.

“How did you figure this out?”

“I found him smoking on one of my first days. Told him off, but he decided to come back. He completely isn’t afraid of being taken to the station, so I figured there was no point in wasting both of our time.” He said with a shrug. “But he admitted to being the person who’s caused all the stigma of the place being haunted, so.”

“Huh.” Niall said, sitting down beside him. “Well, cheers to that kid for pulling off a pretty epic prank.”

“But, this ‘prank’ has been going on for well over fifty years. If this kid is actually a kid… then how’s he pulled that off?” Louis always had been the logical one, but Liam really had no response to that.

“Maybe some kind of tradition? I don’t know.”

“Yeah. I don’t know.”

+

 

“Zayn!” Liam called, walking into the building. He’d been working as a guard here for nearly three months now, and meeting with Zayn had almost become… regular. It was weird, in a good way. He’d long since gotten over the fact that maybe it was a little weird that Zayn was hanging around so much.

“Liam!” Zayn called from the top of the stairs (that he was still a little nervous to climb up).

“I’ll be down in a second.” So Liam just set the soda he’d bought for the other boy down (after having bought one himself and thinking of him) and waited. There wasn’t really much else to do for the moment.

But. In that moment, he started thinking. Zayn didn’t look like the type that really _needed_ to be homeless – he didn’t look like the type that did drugs or anything that would keep him from being able to function properly in society. Maybe he’d end up asking. Maybe not. Sometimes he was bold. But there was a difference between bold and rude; sometimes Liam couldn’t entirely recognize that line.

“Hey.” Zayn said, making Liam jump and nearly drop the drinks in his hand.

“Damn, you’re fast. I didn’t even hear you come down.” Zayn just grinned at that. “I brought you this.”

“What?” He asked before taking the bottle from Liam’s hand. “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.” Zayn smiled again and Liam really wanted to see more of that.

 

It was almost the end of his shift, Zayn following him around as usual before Liam decided to ask.

“How long have you lived out here?”

“A long time.” He said without missing a beat. That made Liam feel bad.

“Why?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to be.” That made Liam feel worse.

“I’m sure you could find something. You can’t just – you can’t just stay here forever, right?”

“I’m pretty sure I can. I like it here.”

“How do you find stuff to eat?” The other boy gave a little shrug. “Zayn –“ Liam paused a moment. “How old are you?”

“Old.”

“No, you’re not. Come on. Tell me.” Zayn didn’t say anything, just took a drink of what was left in his bottle and chewed the side of his lip. “Okay, you don’t have to. But it really can’t be good for you to have been out here this long.”

“It’s really not that big of a deal, Liam.”

“Would you like to maybe come back to my flat? You could shower, get a proper meal? You could borrow some clothes if you like.”

“I should just go, actually.” And that was really all there was before he was gone. Liam hadn’t even looked to where he’d ran off to before he was gone, away in the dark.

 

+

 

He didn’t show up again for almost three weeks. There was no sign of him. Liam had even forced himself to climb up the stairs that he’d always been too afraid to climb. Zayn’s sketch book was sitting in the corner on top of a blanket and a few rocks. Liam sat on the blanket and took the sketch book into his lap, flipping the first cover open.

He assumed that Zayn was long gone, so maybe it didn’t matter if he looked.

The first drawing was trees, the ones behind the mine. He could recognize them almost perfectly.

The second and third were of the building. There were pages and pages of the building, of rocks, close ups of trees, one of a cat, a few of birds.

But near the end of the book he came across a drawing of himself, stopping and looking at it just a few times. He was holding a flashlight, pointing it at the woods with his head tilted to the side slightly, one hand perched on his hip.

That had been before he’d spoken to Zayn – before he’d found him sitting around smoking. That had been his second night, when he’d heard a branch snap before looking a little closer and seeing that it had been a deer.

For a moment, he just sat and looked at the paper. There were several drawings of him after that. It was almost endearing. At that point he decided to stop looking through the book, closing it and setting it back to where it had been left before. Maybe it would just become another piece of ruins along with the building.

“What do you think?” Zayn asked once he was starting to get up, scaring him enough to make him fall back over.

“Fuck. Ouch. You really are good at that.”

“What?”

“Startling me.” He got up, sighing softly. “And art. You’re very good at art.”

“Thanks.”

“Haven’t seen you around in a bit.”

“I’d like to take you up on that offer, if I could?” He asked, ignoring Liam’s previous statement. It was odd, then, standing so close to Zayn and the place he lived. It was clean, almost perfectly. No dust, no odd smells. Even Zayn didn’t smell. It was an odd thing to think, but he’d really expected him to after seeing him for so long in the same pair of clothes.

“Of course. It still stands.” Zayn gave a wider smile. Liam just walked back down the stairs, ignoring the other man’s laughter about how much of a _scardey cat_ he was.

 

+

 

After Liam’s shift ended, he walked with Zayn back to his car, getting in and stopping to pick up take out on the way home. Zayn had said he didn’t care where they went, Liam apologizing that it had to be take out since it was so late and he had no groceries at home.

When they got back, they ate together in silence. Liam didn’t really have much to say, didn’t really know what there was to say. After they finished, he let Zayn take a shower and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, sitting on his couch and turning on what little TV he could find.

If he woke up in the middle of the night and Zayn had fallen asleep curled up next to him, well, he would just keep that little memory to himself.

 

+

 

“Thank you for letting me stay last night. I really didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Zayn said nervously.

“It’s alright, yeah? Don’t worry about it at all.” Liam didn’t work that day, so he was happy to be able to make them pancakes for breakfast, the mix and two eggs being all he had left in his flat. He ate far too much take out for his own good.

Zayn was quiet until they were finished eating, staring down at his plate the majority of the time. Zayn was quiet, but that was okay. Liam didn’t mind, didn’t mind the quiet and the way that they could be together without needing to fill every moment of silence. He preferred it this way, even when he was with his friends.

Maybe it was weird, but he already found himself considering Zayn a friend.

 

+

 

Zayn came to his apartment more often after that first night. When it was the night before he’d have a day off the next day, he’d invite him over. Zayn had stopped apologizing for falling asleep at his place and Liam had started finding it too be empty when he wasn’t there. There was a kind of comfort that came with having Zayn by his side, whether they fell asleep together on the couch or if they slept in different rooms or if they were just sitting together and eating.

“You could come here more often, if you want.” He said one day at breakfast and Zayn just smiled.

“I think I’d like that.”

“Me too.”

So it went like that. They spent time together when Liam wasn’t working. Zayn wasn’t just some kid that hung around the place he was supposed to be watching; he wasn’t just some homesless kid to him anymore. Not that he really ever had been _just_ that – Liam cared far too much about people in general to ever let himself think so little of another person.

 

+

 

After three months, Liam found himself inviting Zayn over almost every night. Some nights he’d say no with the claim that he didn’t want to be a burden. He’d try to convince him to come, still, but most of the time it wouldn’t work.

It was fine.

What wasn’t fine, though, was that Liam could feel himself starting to develop feelings for this mysterious boy. He’d be in bed at night and envision a life where Zayn never left, where he’d never have to go back to that grimey old mine and ask him to come home with him. He’d imagine himself doing domestic things with him like painting and cooking. He’d imagine the things he could do to him to get him screaming his name and imagine the way his face would look. If he got off to those thoughts, well, that was no one’s business but his own.

It was one of those mornings where Liam didn’t have to imagine. Zayn was sitting across from him chewing at his eggs and taking little sips of coffee. They’d managed to get used to eating in silence, just taking the time to spend together and think about the day that was going to be ahead of them.

“Liam?” Zayn asked softly, breaking their typical silence for the first time.  

“What’s up?”

“I need to tell you something.”

“Mm, okay.” Zayn chewed at his lip a moment, taking a small drink of his coffee Liam had made before looking over at him.

“You know how you brought up the mines being haunted?”

“Yeah…” Liam quirked an eyebrow. He was almost certain he was just going to own up to being the ghost again, but the look on his face said something different. He looked sad, almost, like he was thinking about something he didn’t really want to think about.

“I don’t think you took it as seriously as I meant it when I said I was the one haunting the place.”

“Of course I took it seriously, Zayn. That’s why I had you follow me around. Kept you from making trouble or what not.” Liam didn’t really see the point in _this_ conversation. He didn’t. In the end he was just going to offer to help this boy in whatever way he could, in whatever way that he’d allow. Whether or not there was much help he was going to accept was the thing he was really going to worry about. He was glad enough to have him off of a hard concrete floor for at least half the week.

Why Zayn had decided to bring up this now, he didn’t know. But he wasn’t going to stop him from speaking his mind.

“No. It’s.” He stopped, standing and walking across the kitchen before stopping in front of Liam’s cabinet, opening one of the doors and leaving him completely confused.

“What are you-“ Zayn grabbed a knife, one of the biggest of the set. Liam’s heart picked up immediately, getting out of his chair and getting himself across the room as fast as he could. Maybe he’d never considered that before. He’d never considered Zayn to have been a threat, to have been something that he should have actually watched out for. He should have, and it all came clear in that moment. His gun was in his bedroom, tucked away in his dresser. So was his tazer. Zayn had a knife and he was in front of all the others. “Zayn, Zayn calm down. Hey, look, you can explain. I’ll listen, alright? Just. Put the knife down. No one has to get –“ Liam cut himself off in shock when Zayn took the knife and stuck it right into his own stomach. He couldn’t do anything but stare for a moment, just in complete shock before the alarms went off and he ran over to help. That hadn’t been at all what he’d been expecting him to do.

He’d never taken Zayn to be the suicidal type.

Zayn didn’t fall down, just had his face twisted into a little grimace of pain before he pulled the knife out and there was no blood on it, no blood coming from his stomach, nothing.

“I think,” Zayn said, taking a few deep breaths. “That can explain better than I can.” He seemed winded, one hand over the place where he’d stabbed himself before moving back over to the chair he’d been sitting at.

“What –“

“When I said I was a ghost, I wasn’t really lying.” Liam had never believed in ghosts. Not once in his life had he ever taken the rumors and thoughts of ghosts and the undead to have been true. He’d always thought that they were just stories that people made up to scare the gullible. Standing there staring probably wasn’t the right thing to do. No, it really wasn’t the right thing to do. But he couldn’t really do much else. Words didn’t seem to function or process or come together in his brain and even if they would, he wasn’t sure he’d really be able to speak. “I’m sorry that was a lot to take in. I can go, if you’d like. I just really wanted to tell someone. After… so long.”

“How did it happen?” Those were the only words he could get out. His mouth moved before his brain could think about the words.

“The last explosion before they closed the mines.”

“In 1994?” This had to be some kind of joke. Liam couldn’t – he _wouldn’t_ believe it. He couldn’t let himself. It wasn’t possible. Right?

“Yeah. What year is it now?” Zayn really didn’t even seem like he was telling a joke. He seemed genuinely curious about something so simple.

So Liam answered, unsure what else to do. “2016.”

“Fuck. I’m old.” So. Maybe this was a thing. He looked at the knife that was still on the ground, taking the blade and touching his finger against it to see if there was any way that Zayn had rigged it to seem like it had stabbed him when it hadn’t. It cut his finger.

“You’re. You’re really a ghost.” He said after a long moment, looking at the obvious tear in his shirt and the open wound in his stomach. There was still no blood.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.” He said, blinking a few times. What had he gotten himself in to?

 

+

 

So. Zayn had fallen back asleep after breakfast, sprawled out over the couch with a bottle of water clutched in the hand hanging over the side. Liam sat at the table, still trying to even process what he’d just witnessed. Zayn had stabbed himself. With a knife. A _big_ knife. He hadn’t bled. It looked like it had hurt, judging by the face he’d made. But. Still.

He had no idea what to think.

If he’d died in 1994 – that meant he was stuck at that mine for all those years. He couldn’t even imagine how lonely he must have been. Maybe that was why he took up scaring all of the guards.

Was he the only ghost? Almost a hundred people had died in that mine that day – so that meant he couldn’t be the only one. Right?

“I can practically hear you thinking from here.” Zayn’s sleepy voice came from across the room. “I’m sorry I just kind of put all of that on you at once. I just. I needed to tell someone, I guess? You were being so nice to me, it felt like something I needed to do.”

“I’m just confused, I guess. I never believed in ghosts before.”

“I didn’t, either.” He blinked, watching as the smaller boy got up and set his bottle down, stretching a bit before coming back into the kitchen. “It’s a lot. And I understand if you want me to leave and like – never come back or whatever. That’s your right.”

“No, no. I don’t – I definitely don’t want you to leave. I’m just curious I guess?”

“About?”

“Everything.” With so many questions lingering in the back of his mind, he really had no idea where to even start. “Are you the only one?”

“There were others at the beginning. But most of them left. Went to other places, ran off. Whatever. I don’t know if there’s any kind of… other after life… that they might have been able to get in to, but I suppose that’s a possibility too.”

“You’re the only one left at the mine, then?”

“Yeah.” Liam ran his fingers through his hair, sighing softly as he took it all in.

“How old were you when you died?”

“Eighteen. Well, two days from it.” Liam couldn’t help the grimace at that information. He’d died so young when it was so unnecessary.

“Well, I don’t see much need for you to go back. Unless you’d like to. You’re welcome to stay with me.” He said after a long moment. It was setting in, finally. Zayn was dead. He was gone. But he was also there, too.

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

“You’re inviting me to like, live with you? Even with what I just told you.”

“As long as you promise not to haunt me.” That got a bit of a smile out of the other boy before they were both laughing. It was weird. Definitely weird.

But, then again, Liam’s life had never been average.

 

 

+

 

They’d fallen into a rhythm. Zayn had managed to make his sleep pattern fit Liam’s, which was sweet. Liam had slowly gotten used to Zayn denying him when he’d offer him food. (It had taken a while, only finally accepting it when Zayn had told him it made his stomach hurt like hell every time he ate. It made sense. No digestion, or whatever.)

It wasn’t a rare occasion for Zayn to be withdrawn and stare out the window silently for hours. It was just another thing that Liam had slowly grown used to. He was going to take it slow, let Zayn adjust in whatever way that he wanted to.

He’d yet to tell any of his friends that he had Zayn staying with him. He wasn’t sure if he’d end up freezing up and the other man would feel the need to explain himself yet again – that was a scene he really didn’t want to relive – or if he’d just end up being cool with the situation.

“You’re thinking again.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“What about?” Zayn came over, sitting beside him and leaning his head on his shoulder. The other man was very affectionate, something Liam wasn’t sure he’d ever grow tired of.

“I don’t know. Everything. Nothing.”

“Is it about me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” It was quiet for a long while after that, the only noise in the room being the running voices on the telly. It was on low volume, enough to make a slight noise but not enough to really be able to hold Liam’s attention.

“Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?” Suddenly Liam wasn’t thinking so much anymore. His mind drew a blank, blinking a few times at the other boy who stared at him, waiting for an answer. There were no words, they wouldn’t form in his mouth, so he just nodded.

That was all Zayn needed before he was leaning forward, lips brushing against his own just softly, almost as if asking for permission. When Liam kissed him back, touching his arm softly, Zayn kissed him harder.

It was perfect.

Liam wasn’t sure if he wanted this to become anything else, just the feel of Zayn’s lips against his own and the gentle feeling of his finger tips against the other man’s arm. His eyes were closed and it was enough to just be able to sit and feel and _enjoy_ the feeling of Zayn so close to him.

When Zayn pulled away, he had a smile on his face. “That was nice. Thank you.”

Liam blinked. This boy was too much for him.

 

+

 

“Are you ever going to tell me the entire story?” It was quiet. Zayn had taken to sleeping with him in his bed instead of the couch once Liam had offered to give him the bed, instead. A compromise, Liam should have called it, but he preferred to think of it as something more than that. They were both sipping on coffee, Zayn saying he just liked to feel the warmth in his mouth even though the caffien didn’t do much for him. Liam had never said anything else about it.

“Of?”

“The mines.”

“Oh.” Zayn blinked a few times, eyelashes seeming so much longer in the dull lamp-lighting coming from beside him. They’d woken up hours ago but never gotten out of bed. Small talk had filled the beginning of the morning before they’d managed to get into deeper topics. But maybe Liam had crossed a line. “It was a pretty normal day, I guess. We all went down the elevator like every other day. It was so _hot_ that’s really what I remember most. Down at the bottom was even worse, really. Like – you’d think it wouldn’t be, right? But it was always like that. I don’t know. But I was all the way in the back, my section was something in the sixties that I’ve forgotten now, but it meant I was the farthest away from the outside.

“So like, when I heard the shouting, my first thought was to run towards the exit. I heard something about sparks and gas – I wasn’t really listening. I wish I would have, though. ‘Cause if I’d stayed in my section instead of running I wouldn’t have –“

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to.” Liam said, finally. He could see how much it really was tearing Zayn up.

“No. You’re the only one I’ve ever told.” Zayn smiled. It was so genuine that Liam couldn’t even deny him. “My dad worked there, too. Family tradition or what-not. But after the first accident, he’d quit. Tried so hard to get me to quit, too, but I was greedy. I was making more money than any other job in town then would have offered. So I didn’t.” A sigh. “It was just – when the first explosion hit, I wasn’t. I saw four of my friends just – they were there one second and then there was just _blood._ It didn’t last too long after that. I don’t know if I was crushed or blown up or what.”

“Why didn’t you ever leave?”

“I kept telling myself I would. I’d wake up and say that it was going to be the day, that day. I was going to go down to the mine, find my… whatever’s left… find out how I died, and then leave. But then I’d chicken out.” Liam put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay now, though. I’m happy.”

“I’m happy, too.”

 

+

 

Maybe it was weird when Liam woke up and felt something poking his back. But maybe it was weirder that the first thing he thought was: _how can Zayn get hard if he’s not got any blood?_

It probably would have been weirder if his second thought hadn’t been about fucking him.

Or maybe not.

When he moved away, turning over on his stomach to try and fall back asleep, Zayn let out a bit of a whine and that was what pushed him over the edge of tired. He was fully awake. His cock twitched softly, taking interest in the noise. He blinked, taking a few deep breaths and thinking of the most disgusting thing he could to try and will it down.

He was awake for well over a half an hour before his eyes finally shut and the darkness took over.

 

+

 

It had been almost a month since Zayn had come to work with Liam. He tagged along that night, saying that he needed to get something before he was just going to sit in Liam’s car and sleep. It was an odd request, but Liam had started to find it difficult to deny anything the other boy wanted.

“I’ll see you soon.” Liam said with a smile, Zayn nodding before walking in the direction opposite of him. He had a bit of an idea of where he was going, but whatever it was, he wasn’t going to pressure him.

 

As usual, when Liam found Zayn again it was by Zayn scaring him. He ran up and jumped on his back, making Liam fall over and his pulse rise higher than it ever had. “I found stuff. Come read it with me when your shift is over?” Was all he said and then he was retreating back to Liam’s car. The question didn’t even need an answer because Zayn knew he wouldn’t say no.

Of course he wouldn’t.

 

An hour later, he was off. His alarm had gone off, proving that it was his two am time to head home. Zayn had been gone longer than he’d thought he was, but he never paid much attention to the time when he was working. It made it seem longer.

“What did you want to show me?” He asked, getting in the drivers side of the car with Zayn in the passenger’s side.

“I’ve not opened it yet. Was waiting for you to get off.”

“Well, we’ll be home soon, yeah? Might be better to read it there instead of here.”

“Okay.”

 

The drive was quiet after that, Zayn looking out the window like he always did. He’d said that the way that the city had changed since he’d died still fascinated him and he’d never tire of looking at it. Liam tried to think he could relate. He couldn’t imagine not seeing something for so many years and then seeing it entirely changed

But when they pulled into his flat’s parking lot, Zayn wasn’t so quiet. He was going on and on about how nervous he was to read whatever it was that he’d found. He’d go back and forth between nervous and excited. When they got inside he was quiet again, settling the papers out on the kitchen table and pulling them out.

The first document was the accident report from the explosion. The first one, before Zayn had died.

“They lied in this.” He said softly. “They lied to keep the mines open. There’s no way they’d have been allowed to keep it open if they’d told the truth.” He shook his head, sighing softly before turning it over and placing it back in the envelope. There were a few things with bills that neither of them really took any interest in.

“This is my dad’s resignation letter.” Zayn said softly, holding the worn paper in his hands. They were shaking.

“Maybe you shouldn’t –“

“I have to.”

_Sir,_

_In the most recent explosion, I’ve found that the safety of both myself and the other men working below ground is not in your concern. With the death of my two dear friends, both given nothing for their service and years of work for you, I’ve taken to realize that you care not for us, but only for the money that you’re earning from us. While you sit safely in the confines of your office, we work in the ground, in the earth taking what you want and finding no reward._

_I’ve taken in to thought that it could have been my life taken in that accident; or perhaps even my son’s. Soon I hope to find that he shares my heart and will soon come to turns with the greed that could soon kill all of us._

_How you all managed to get through the investigation and keep this facility running is beyond me; whatever sins you’ve commited are now only known in the eyes of God. I no longer with to work here or in any other facility kept alive by the greed of any man._

_Good day._

_Yaser Malik._

Zayn sat for a long time, re-reading the words over and over before he set it down and walked into the bedroom, closing the door softly.

Liam gave him his space.

 

+

 

It was a few hours before Zayn emerged. Liam had invited Louis over, the both of them settling down on the floor and playing FIFA when he heard the footsteps.

“Liam –“ He turned around and smiled at the other boy.

“Hey, Zayn. This is Louis.”

“Hi.” Zayn sat on the couch, lets pressed next to Liam and he looked back to give a smile. He didn’t seem as distraught as he’d been earlier. With being distracted, Louis won the game and gave a little cheer before standing and properly introducing himself to Zayn. He’d talked a bit about him, finally over coming the fear of freezing up, so Louis knew of him.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Liam always gets this mushy little look on his face when –“

“You guys want any tea?” Liam cut off and couldn’t help the smile when he caught sight of the faint blush on Zayn’s cheeks.

“Two sugars –“

“Yes, dear Louis, I know how you take your tea.”

“Just black, please?”

“Okay.” Liam was in the kitchen, then, leaning against the counter as he waited for the kettle to whine and tell him it was finished. In the meantime, he put all of the papers back in the envelope for later and set it in the cabinet.

Louis left shortly after tea, something about his latest love interest texting him and asking him to come over. Of course, Liam hadn’t let him go without enough teasing to turn Louis’ face red, but it was enough to make both him and Zayn smile. That was enough for Liam.

 

+

 

“I’m sorry about earlier. It was a lot. I guess I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I’m sure it was hard. Don’t be sorry.”

“Where’s the rest?”

“I put it up. Do you want me to get it? Are you gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, I really just want to read the newspaper article I found about the accident. I just grabbed the envelope on my way out after I found that.”

 

Liam nodded, grabbing the papers and handing them over, watching the focus on Zayn’s face as he read. He was pretty in almost every way, but something about the way the little tip of his tongue pointed out of his lips when he was concentrated was so much more than beautiful.

Zayn didn’t look too upset when he put the paper down, just folding it up and stacking the pile back up before making his way over to Liam.

“Can we go to bed?” His voice was so small and Liam’s heart swooned. It was slight, throughout the time that Zayn had been around him he’d found the little things that made his heart speed up and the thoughts speed faster in his head than he could keep up with.

Little things like the way he walked, how his hips swayed ever so slightly, the way he leaned back against the headboard in the mornings with half-hooded eyes as he slowly willed himself in to consciousness and out of sleep, the way he sat on the couch and tried to keep himself from taking up too much space before Liam would put a hand on top of his and he’d relax with the notion – It was too much. He’d tried to take it slow, really. He’d tried to keep himself from falling for someone that he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help it. Everything about Zayn made his head spin.

“Sure.” Liam said with a little smile, clicking the lights off as he and Zayn walked together to the bedroom. Zayn was playing with the edge of his shirt as he walked, something that Liam had picked up on meant he was nervous. Normally, he would have not said anything, knowing that Zayn was reserved and liked to keep things to himself, but he couldn’t help himself this time. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m great. I just.” Whenever Zayn stuttered in that way, when he seemed so unsure of what he was saying, Liam knew that there was something that needed to be said. So he was going to listen, try and let him get whatever he needed to say out.

“Hm?”

“I like you a lot, Liam. I really like you. You’re so nice and good and sweet and –“

“I like you, too.” He really did. Fuck.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“You don’t have to ask.”

 

+

 

Zayn was on top of Liam, chests pressed together while they kissed softly. It wasn’t heated; Liam wasn’t sure he was looking for that with Zayn – at least not yet – but the little soft touches and the way their lips moved so slowly against each other’s was enough. It was more than enough.  
Zayn’s weight on top of him was more than welcomed, a comforting feeling heightened by the way their fingers were intertwined. It was a weird feeling, laying on his own bed in his own apartment, but he’d never felt at home until right that moment, their bodies pressed so close together.

“Thank you.” Zayn said after a moment. Liam just smiled, letting the other man rest his head on his chest. He didn’t have to ask what for – he understood. He felt it, too, even if there wasn’t much of a way to describe it. Just being there – just _having_ Zayn was something he wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever be able to show how thankful for he was. It was one of those things he hadn’t known he’d needed until he had it, and it was beautiful.

 

+

 

It was another one of those mornings where the light streamed in through the slightly open curtains, the air conditioner on full blast to aid the heat. They each had a cup of coffee in their hands, the only difference from the usual setting being the soft music that was playing from Liam’s alarm clock.

“Liam?” Zayn asked, setting his cup down and turning to face him.

“Hm?”

“Will you fuck me?” He blinked. Once, twice, processing the words to make sure they were really what he’d said.

“Uh –“ His mouth was trying to work against his head and all he could think was static. “Yeah, yes. Is that – are you sure?”

“I want it.”

Who was Liam to deny something Zayn wanted?

 

So that was how it happened. It was usual, almost. Their rhythm, their mold of being together. The soft kisses and the gentle touches – this time amplified with the thoughts, the promises of something more – were all exactly what Liam had never known he’d wanted. It was in a soft motion that he nudged Zayn’s legs apart with his knee – clothed bodies not quite close enough but still closer than they’d ever been.

“Are you sure?” He asked again, lips pressed so softly against the part of his neck where he _should_ have felt a pulse. It wasn’t there, but Liam had long since gotten over that. Zayn nodded, he could feel the movement, but it wasn’t enough. “Words, love. Use your words.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Please. I want you – I want to be close to you.” That was enough.

There were gentle touches and soft moans and soft spoken _I love yous_ that Liam felt were more true than they could have been in any other situation. Being so close to Zayn was something he could feel himself getting addicted to – something he wasn’t sure he’d be able to let go of. It was a dangerous game to play, dancing with the natural boundaries of life and death and love and life.

In that moment, he wasn’t thinking about how Zayn wouldn’t age. He wasn’t thinking about the future beyond what was _them_ in that moment. He wasn’t thinking about the anxiety that had kept him up with the thoughts that Zayn would eventually leave to go wherever it was he felt he needed to go. He wasn’t thinking about how dangerous all of this really was – how hard he could fall or when his heart would eventually break.

But, then again, Liam had never played it safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for anyone waiting on an update for my other fic! I tend to get more muse for other things when I take a break and write something else for a bit. So, I hope enjoyed this! Please leave me comments and kudos and all that good stuff.
> 
> As always, feel free to follow me on tumblr [here](http://futurxhearts.tumblr.com/) or twitter [here](https://twitter.com/alex_4968) (Twitter is for writing updates only).


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